Chapter 547: Chapter 546: The Market on the Deserted Island (Extra add ons for ‘Raised a Little Dragon Girl’, 5/9)
Shi Xiaole was reminded of the deserted island.
Years ago, when he was passing through Redbud State, he mistakenly boarded the boat of Miss Cai of the Cai Family, only to realize she was a member of the Three Talents Association involved in human trafficking. It wasn’t until Xia Yunxi and his senior brothers and sisters caught up with them on the boat that subsequent acquaintances were made.
To Shi Xiaole, the deserted island was definitely a significant place in his life.
It was there that he became a master of the Spiritual-Passage Realm and it was there that he became deeply entangled with Xia Yunxi. He would never forget that cold pool on the island.
Shi Xiaole had a feeling that the deserted island concealed secrets unbeknownst to others. Since he happened to be passing through Redbud State this time around, he thought he might as well make a special trip to visit it and close an old Chapter in his life.
"You’re leaving?"
Upon hearing Shi Xiaole’s plan, Ye Yiyi couldn’t help but ask.
"The ebb and flow of life is but an ordinary part of existence"
Said Shi Xiaole.
Ye Yiyi nodded and gently smiled, "In that case, I wish Brother Shi a smooth journey."
"Brother Situ, Miss Ye, farewell."
With a wave of his hand, Shi Xiaole drifted away without disturbing any of the masters of the Ye Family.
Situ Changkong glanced at Ye Yiyi and said, "I should also leave tomorrow."
He yearned for a life in the Martial World, drawing swords for justice, and believed that the current journey had reached its time for an end.
Ye Yiyi pursed her lips and sighed softly, "I am fortunate to have met Brother Shi and Brother Situ, but when it comes to parting, I would rather wish I had never known you."
....
At the dock, Shi Xiaole hired a ship and a few crewmen and set sail.
Relying on his astonishing memory, he followed the route he had once returned on. After about half a month, he purposefully steered into an ocean vortex.
Five years ago, Shi Xiaole spent several months before he managed to find the deserted island. Now, his spiritual power is incomparable to before, and with a slight sense, he found the flaw in the abnormal power of the vortex. A few days later, the deserted island was within sight.
Instructing the crewmen not to disembark, Shi Xiaole alone reached the deserted island and entered it alone.
Soon, he found that cold pool.
Five years had passed and the interior of the pool was filled with ice, and the surroundings were frosty. However, with Shi Xiaole’s current skill level, it naturally could not stop him. He pointed his sword, and a straightforward passageway appeared within the cold pool.
Following the tunnel, Shi Xiaole quickly reached the bottom of the cold pool.
Before him was a cold bed approximately two meters long and one meter thick. The aura it emanated nearly shattered Shi Xiaole’s protective vigorous air.
"There are a total of twelve cold beds in the Heavenly Snow Mountain, it is said that only nine remain. The remaining three, due to different reasons, are scattered throughout the Flying Horse Dynasty. If I am not guessing wrong, this cold bed should be the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed."
Shi Xiaole, who had carefully collected information about the Heavenly Snow Mountain, was naturally aware of many things.
The twelve cold beds, each made from rare treasures of heaven and earth, each have their amazing effects. It was said that the unparallel martial art of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, the Tianxue Thirty-three Heavenly Layers, couldn’t be practiced without utilizing the twelve cold beds.
So, for hundreds of years, the Heavenly Snow Mountain has been constantly searching for the three missing cold beds.
Present in front of him was a cold bed, its coldness repelling people, and it was extremely oppressive. It seemed to suppress the strange power of the deserted island at the bottom. It was undoubtedly the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed.
"With my current ability, perhaps I can try it."
The Demon-suppressing Cold Bed could shatter demons intent, render people transparent, dissolve evil elements within the human body and speed up improvement of practice. In the past, Shi Xiaole did not have enough skill to approach it, but now he could give it a try.
Of course, if he practiced the strongest martial art of Heavenly Snow Mountain, the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed would truly be an absolute treasure, and could be expected to have an unimaginable effect.
With his vigorous air maximized, Shi Xiaole placed his hand on the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed first.
In an instant, the incredibly fearsome coldness surged through his meridians into his body, attacking the demon bone in his spine immediately. It was horribly violent.
Boom!
A sound of freezing frost emitted from the surface of the demon bone, but quickly, the frost was shattered.
This provoked the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed, and more cold power surged, colliding violently with the power of the demon bone itself. Half of Shi Xiaole’s body was frozen and his blood almost ceased to flow.
However, as time passed, something terrible happened.
The demon bone actually began to absorb the power of the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed. The deep gray light gradually turned into dark gray, more profound and mysterious.
When the demon bone completely turned into a crystal-like dark gray color, the suction disappeared, the power of the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed no longer attacked the demon bone, instead flowed normally through Shi Xiaole’s body.
"How is this possible?"
Shi Xiaole was baffled.
His original intention was to test the contrast between the power of the demon bone and the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed, but he discovered that the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed lost its hostility towards the demon bone.
It definitely wasn’t due to the absorption of power, but more like a slight change in the nature of the demon bone. It seemed that something else had been added to the demonic nature.
Is the demon bone really a demon bone?
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but harbor a terrifying suspicion.
The legendary Heaven-devouring Devil Bone could only absorb any demonic force in the world. Yet, his demon bone seemed to be able to absorb any power it saw fit. The difference between the two was vast.
After a moment, he shook his head. He couldn’t understand these things for the time being – he would leave them to the future.
Shi Xiaole jumped onto the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed and allowed the cold power to wash over his body as he cycled his vigor, simultaneously comprehending the Undying Seven Illusions.
Presumably because the Heaven-devouring Devil Bone had turned dark grey, he was able to understand the mysteries of devil martial arts at a faster pace. He forcefully compensated for his lack of foundation and elevated the Undying Seven Illusions to a stage beyond perfection.
He struck out with his palm, and a silver-grey halo akin to a cutting machine instantly sliced an equally-sized ring into the solid ice within the Cold Pool, as if a stamp had been pressed down.
"Now, in terms of offensive power, the Undying Seven Illusions is no less strong than the Fierce Wind Hundred Turns."
Shi Xiaole could not help but laugh.
The Undying Seven Illusions was undoubtedly all-round, not only was it his strongest defense, but it was also his most powerful flying skill, and now, it had also become his strongest offense.
He believed that as his cultivation and understanding increased, this technique would be enough for him to dominate the Dragon Gate Realm.
Remembering something, Shi Xiaole jumped off the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed, grabbed the bottom of the chilly bed with both hands and lifted it up forcefully.
Hum hum hum.
An eerie mental wave suddenly surged out like tides, wave after wave crashing against Shi Xiaole’s mind. Despite being prepared, he almost blacked out on the spot.
"What on earth is being suppressed here?"
Shi Xiaole was truly astonished.
Even after having vastly improved his spiritual power in the past five years, he was still unable to withstand this bizarre force.
Barely holding onto his consciousness, Shi Xiaole looked at the bottom of the cold bed and instantly felt a chill throughout his body. His hand loosened, and the cold bed closed again.
An eye.
He seemed to have seen an eye, which, upon noticing his gaze, glanced at him briefly, radiating a wickedness and gloom that even disturbed Shi Xiaole.
"Is there a person inside here?"
Shi Xiaole retreated a few steps.
Who was worth suppressing with the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed? Who had suppressed him in the past?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Demon-suppressing Cold Bed suddenly began to shake violently. A piercing hatred and killing intent radiated from beneath the bed, bearing down on Shi Xiaole as though it wanted to shred him into a thousand pieces.
It was almost half a 2-hour period before the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed finally regained silence.
"The secret here is far beyond my current level."
After calming his mind, Shi Xiaole made a silent decision to avoid this location unless his strength reaches the pinnacle of the Divine Barrier Realm, as not to court disaster.
Without rushing to leave the deserted island, he jumped out of the cold pool and looked towards the barrier-like peaks in the distance.
During his last visit, Shi Xiaole had noticed that there was something of interest beyond those mountains but didn’t dare to cross the metaphorical "River of Lightning" due to his insufficient strength. This time, he was determined to explore in detail.
As the altitude of the mountain gradually increased, the island’s unique anomalous power that confused the spirit also gradually intensified. Once he reached 500 meters, Shi Xiaole began to feel affected.
At 600 meters, his sense of direction was slightly off.
By the time he was at 700 meters, his feet were involuntarily deviating from the path he had in mind. The spiritual interference was finally reflected in reality.
Fortunately, the peak was only some thirty meters beyond. Taking a deep breath, Shi Xiaole was methodical with each step, confirming his direction repeatedly before moving forward.
He knew very well that one wrong move might mean that he would never reach the summit, or even get lost in the process.
Although he had taken an hour to ascend the first seven hundred meters, it took him two full days to ascend the remaining thirty. He expended ninety-five percent of his spiritual power, and even his gaze became listless.
However, Shi Xiaole was pleasantly surprised to find that after his spiritual power had recovered, it was stronger than before.
In the past, he had attained the perception level of a regular Divine Barrier Realm practitioner by relying on the methods of the Yi Sword Skill, but his spiritual power remained at a top-tier Dragon Gate Realm level.
At this moment, his spiritual power had broken through a threshold, amazingly reaching the level of an ordinary Divine Barrier Realm!
The strange power coming from the mountaintop was strong, yet its influence on Shi Xiaole was not as intense as when he was at 700 meters.
"One cannot rival the plans of nature."
Shi Xiaole clenched his fists.
More than the enhancement of his physical power, the upgrade in his spiritual power excited him more, because the latter was the key.
Stronger spiritual power led to better focus and a higher comprehension rate; it even boosted the power of the Yi Sword Skill. The improvements it brought were multi-dimensional.
In effect, while it may seem that there were no apparent changes to Shi Xiaole compared to two days earlier, his actual strength had undoubtedly increased significantly.
With his emotions in check, Shi Xiaole looked down the mountain, and the sight took his breath away.
A marketplace.
Yes, there was a bustling marketplace on the other side of the deserted island.
Through the obscured thin mist, he could vaguely see people drinking, people hawking, and a character covered in green hair, running wild on the streets.
"A green-haired monster!"
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath.
He had encountered a green-haired monster at Peony Town in Xuanwu State. He knew how terrifying it was, but who would have thought that such creatures existed above the eight states’ surface?
